Generally, silver halide color photographic materials have silver halide emulsion layers which are sensitive to the three primary colors of red, green and blue. They reproduce a dye image by a method wherein three kinds of color formers (couplers) contained in the emulsion layers are developed so as to complement the colors sensitive to these layers, that is, by subtractive color photography. Dye images obtained by photographically processing the silver halide color photographic materials are generally composed of azomethine dyes or indoaniline dyes formed by the reaction of the oxidants of aromatic primary amine color developing agents with the couplers.
Phenol or naphthol couplers are generally used to form cyan dye image in silver halide color photographic materials. However, these couplers have undesired absorptions in the regions of blue and green light and hence they have a serious problem in that color reproducibility is greatly reduced.
As a means of solving the problem, EP 249,453A2 proposes the use of 2,4-diphenylimidazoles. In dyes formed by these couplers, the undesired absorptions in the short wave region is low in comparison with conventional dyes, and hence the couplers are preferred from the viewpoint of color reproducibility.
However, the color reproducibility of these couplers is still insufficient, and there are the practical problems that coupling activity is low and fastness to heat and light is quite low.
Pyrazoloazole couplers described in JP-A-64-552 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), JP-A-64-553, JP-A-64-554, JP-A-64-555, JP-A-64-556 and JP-A-64-557 are superior with respect to the problem of absorption in the short wave side in comparison with conventional dyes. However, their color formability and color reproducibility as cyan couplers are still insufficient.
The present inventors have developed pyrrolotriazole cyan dye forming couplers which do not have the problems associated with prior art. However, the couplers have the problem of instability of the couplers themselves in the photographic materials. Hence, there is the disadvantage that when the photographic materials are stored over a long period of time after preparation, they deteriorate even though pyrrolotriazole cyan dye forming couplers are normally stable. Further, color formability, color reproducibility and fastness are still insufficient to cope with the high demands of recent years.